War and Ukrainian children – crayons help them to cope with the trauma ;

A drawing of a Ukrainian soldier shows her looking through the scope of her rifle, with red flowers adorning her long black hair. In another, a girl is playing on a swing, surrounded by a smiling sun. It is a happy scene, except for the Russian bombers that are flying overhead.

War children’s online gallery:
Artem Bykovets and his wife Anastasiia fled Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, one month ago after Russian soldiers invaded. The couple encouraged their six-year-old daughter to draw her thoughts during the 37-hour drive to the west of the country. This gave them the idea of creating an online gallery for children affected by the war.

Social media as a showcase:
Over the past few months, their Instagram account @uakids.today has gained over 1,000 followers. This account posted dozens of pictures taken by children caught up in a war engulfing the country. Many more have been posted on their website.

Belonging to a larger community:
‘For them, it’s a great miracle,’ said Artem. ‘Like you just drew a picture for your dad or for your mom, and after five minutes you open a website and your picture is among hundreds of others drawn by children across Ukraine, and they feel part of a larger community.’

‘Special military operations’:
The Kremlin sent troops across the Ukrainian border on Feb. 24 to carry out a ‘special military operation’ to demilitarize and ‘denazify’ the country. Ukraine and the West say that President Vladimir Putin provoked a war with Russia’s neighbor.

Refugee children:
There are bombardments in cities across Ukraine, and some residential areas are reduced to rubble by the bombardments. According to the United Nations, hundreds of civilians have been killed. The Russian government denies targeting civilians. Approximately half of the 3.3 million Ukrainian refugees who have fled to EU countries are children, according to the European Union.

Bullets and flowers:
In western Ukraine, the Bykovet family, event organizers in their previous lives, is holed up in a small hotel room with two children. Having received drawings from Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv and Lutsk, they are buoyed. There are some photos that depict idyllic scenes of peacetime Ukraine, with families playing in fields surrounded by flowers. Children are often depicted with planes and tanks and crayon scribbles as bullets, hinting at the trauma they undergo.